


Robin Red

by naasad



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bonding, Gen, Miscarriage, Nursery, Painting, artistic license taken with jason's age, jason is robin when damian was conceived
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 14:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13592481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naasad/pseuds/naasad
Summary: Bruce had forgotten about The Room.





	Robin Red

Bruce pulled up short just outside the door, all the grief of years past slamming into him at once. He took a deep breath and turned the knob. "Strange I should find you in here." He stopped, breathless.

Damian looked up from his perch on the floor, brush in hand, as he detailed the floor-to-ceiling mural of Gotham's skyline that took up three of the four walls. "How so?"

Bruce glanced at the fourth wall, still painted a deep red, then strode to his son's side. "This was going to be your room."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand, Father. Judging by the boxes Pennyworth and I moved, this was clearly a room for an infa-." He lowered the brush.

Bruce nodded and looked around. "I was so excited, I started buying things for you the minute I knew."

Damian paused a moment, then took up his brush again. "Was Richard excited, as well?"

Bruce shook his head. "Dick and I weren't on speaking terms then." He nodded to the red wall. "Jason helped me paint that, though. He wanted me to name you Bennett, after the characters from Pride and Prejudice. He would've been a great older brother back then. What were you planning on doing with that wall?"

Damian glanced up and shrugged. "I haven't decided. I am confused, though, Father. I thought you didn't know about me."

"Hm," Bruce sighed, and sat with his back against the wall. "Come here."

Damian set down his brush and scooted back into his father's side.

Bruce wrapped his arms around him and took a moment to order his thoughts. "Your mother told me she lost you," he said, eventually. "I think because she somehow guessed I was already planning on giving up Batman once you were born. I didn't want you to lose your father like I lost mine. After I heard, I was... not in a good place for a very long time. We all grieved - me, Jason, Alfred. I don't remember if I ever told Dick during that time, or if I ever told him at all."

Damian nodded, looking around in silence.

"Come on," Bruce said, standing up and offering his hand. "Alfred sent me to get you for dinner."

Damian hesitantly reached up, then stopped once he was on his feet, tense. "I... I am glad you wanted me."

Bruce pulled him close. "Oh, Damian. Just because you were a surprise doesn't mean you aren't wanted."

Damian wrapped his arms around his father's waist, then pulled back to run a finger over the wall. "I haven't been able to find a match for this color."

Bruce smiled fondly. "Jason ordered it made special, I don't know where from, the same color as his uniform. Robin Red. The leftover cans are probably somewhere in the garage, but I don't know if they'd be good anymore."

Damian hummed. "I know what I'm going to do with this wall."

* * *

 

_Twelve years earlier..._

_Bruce sighed as he finished his current project and he reached for the next file, only to find his lap suddenly full of eleven-year-old. "Jason!" he barked._

_"Come on, B!" Jason grabbed him by the arm and tugged. "You've been in the Cave all day, we're supposed to paint Bennett's room today, remember?"_

_Bruce flinched, but nodded. "Okay," he said, and let the boy drag him upstairs._

_It took several hours to finish one wall, and Jason talked the entire time about what he was going to do with his new little brother. "Or sister, Bennett can be a girl's name, too. Either way, I'm going to be their favorite superhero."_

_Finally, they put down their brushes, and Jason sat back, glowing. "One down, three to go."_

_Bruce put a hand on his shoulder. "Jason."_

_"Yeah?" Jason looked up, and suddenly, that glow was gone. "What's wrong? You look like someone died."_

_Bruce flinched, sighed, and crouched down to hold Jason close. "Talia lost the baby."_

_"Oh." Jason stood frozen for a moment, then gingerly hugged back. "I'm sorry. I know you were excited."_

_"So were you," Bruce said, pulling away to drop a kiss on Jason's forehead._

_The boy made a face, then looked around the room. "Maybe...," he gnawed on his lip, "maybe we shouldn't paint this room after all."_

_Bruce nodded in agreement, and if Robin was a little harder on the criminals of Gotham that night, he decided not to say anything, just this once._

* * *

 

"Todd," Damian called from the dining room door.

Jason grunted as he poured his coffee.

"Come," Damian said, turning around and walking upstairs.

Jason sighed and followed, tensing as they neared his old room, confused when they stopped at the very next door.

Damian gave him a significant glance and pushed open the door. "I finished this last week."

The moment he entered, Jason's mug shattered on the ground as he gaped at the mural, then at the lone red wall, where Batman and Robin now looked over the city below. But not Damian Robin - _Jason_ Robin. He closed his eyes as the memories assaulted him. "How did you-?"

"I bribed Drake for pictures."

Jason nodded, stepping into the middle of the room and turning slowly, taking it all in. "I forgot about our littlest stalker. Damn, Baby Bat, this is good." He swallowed and turned to face his little brother. "Bruce tell you about this room?"

Damian nodded. "Father told me this was to be my room, but then mother told him she'd suffered a miscarriage." He leaned toward the wall. "He said you'd picked the color. He also said you'd have made a fantastic older brother back then. -Tt- You're not half bad now, I think." He shook himself. "I, however, am not cleaning that up."

Jason glanced at the broken mug and coffee stains, then ignored it to pull Damian in for a brief hug. "What are you going to do with this room?"

"I had intended to turn it into my studio, but perhaps...," Damian's face softened, "perhaps Father and Kyle can find a better use for it."


End file.
